What We Don't Know *Can* Hurt Us...

From Dane Rudhyar:

"...the person who becomes an astrologer's client must have faith, or at least the queer borderland feeling in which curiosity, skepticism and an avid eagerness to believe blend. As the astrologer talks of these remote entities, the planets, the ordinary client senses the power of mysterious Forces operating in his life. He is led to the realm of a 'threshold knowledge'; he is led, in most cases, blindfolded and without any bearings. Yet he who leads him and pours into his mind and psyche starting information has, in most cases, very little sense of responsibility for what this information evokes in the client's consciousness."

It's time for me to reveal a bit about my sense of responsibility in introducing the B.I.D.E. System to the readers of this blog and I'll do it by talking about asteroids (please take note that I'm using the term "asteroids" in a non-astronomical way, somewhat like calling the Sun and Moon "planets". {for detailed information about the smaller bodies of the solar system, check out Asteroid groups and families and the IAU Minor Planet Center})

In the original volume of Astrological Repair Manual (which is still a free download near the top of the right panel), I began to address the issue of interpreting "asteroids":

"The critical thing for an astrologer to consider is what can be done, with such a wide variety of objects orbiting in such a wide variety of places, when the astrologer comes to the point of trying to draw any logical, interpretive conclusions. Sad to say, there are many astrologers who don’t stop to consider many things before they blithely offer up their opinions. Result? Chaos; in the astrologer’s mind and in any soul unwitting enough to bite this particular apple."

I mentioned not only the asteroids between Mars and Jupiter but also those in other spaces in the solar system. The tentative interpretive issue I sketched back then was stated this way:

"The first major consideration before attempting astrological interpretation of this kind of object is, 'What about all the other ones?' Sure, some astrologers interpret a few of the asteroids in their practice, but the critical difference between planets and this host of other bodies is that they are a host, a multitude, a legion. Back when we were hovering near Xena, I said one approach for hordes-interpretation was to, '...think of a sheath or aura around the chart, a non-localized group of potentials and energies that each individual can tap into IF they can manage to begin using the other planetary functions consciously'."

The three images below show, first, the "asteroidal bodies" out to Mars' orbit, then, out just past Jupiter's orbit, then, out past Pluto. The second image includes the first image and the third includes the second. The blue circles are the planets' orbits and the orange areas are the names of asteroids and other small objects...

We are, in truth, dealing with "a sheath or aura around the chart", not just the four or five asteroidal bodies most astrologers consider...

Well, "Why", you might ask, "should we worry about all of them?"

My answer would be another question: Why should we use the planets beyond Mars' orbit? Can't we just forget about Saturn through Pluto?

Of course we can't forget about those planets and we shouldn't forget that there are thousands of other objects around each of our charts...

I'd said that these bodies represent "a non-localized group of potentials and energies that each individual can tap into IF they can manage to begin using the other planetary functions consciously".

Well, dear soul, this astrologer, even after 40 years, is still working on clear, conscious use of all the planets out to Pluto. So, I'm still looking forward to the day when I begin to get a clear sense of how to explain the tentative understanding I've gained about this aspect of astrology. I intend to share it in future volumes of Astrological Repair Manual...

So am I just teasing you with this post?

Nope. I'm using the issue of interpreting asteroids as an example of why I feel so strongly that the B.I.D.E. Interpretive System is valuable. I know that continued use of the System leads to more conscious control over how the planets are understood and how that understanding is used to improve our situation here on sweet Mother Earth. And, I'm revealing my deep concern about the responsibility that Dane Rudhyar was talking about in that opening quote.

I want anyone who continues to visit this blog and persists in learning to use the B.I.D.E. System to gain a much more complete understanding and conscious control over their destiny...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the way, the survey that lets you help me know what you'd like to see in this blog is still available: up near the top of the right panel and, also, right HERE...

What's Important To You?

I was going to look at Elvis Presley's chart in this post but that will have to wait. There's a more important topic that should be dealt with since I've launched into showing you how the interpretive system in my book (Astrological Repair Manual) can be used to arrive at more honest and positive insights into those strange entities called charts.

As you noticed in the last post, while considering Adolf Hitler's chart, my focus isn't from the ground, up; it's from the sky, down...

I didn't try to find the evil actions of Hitler in his chart, I considered the positive factors in his life-blueprint and gave a few reasons why he didn't fulfill his positive potential. Hitler was born with all the positive potential for creative contribution to our human family as any of us but his environment and his own free-will conspired against his developing a desire to be a trustworthy member of the human race.

Our ego minds seem to never get enough of seeing life as good/bad, white/black, for me/against me...

But, we all have higher or, if you prefer, deeper minds that can bridge the gap between "good" and "bad" and find a position of Best, for ourselves and for others we relate to.

Here's an analogy to help you see why I propose that a top-down interpretation is always better than a bottom-up one:

Let's consider a view of the ancient alchemical elements Earth, Water, Air, Fire. In fact, that ordering of the elements (which is at least 4,000 years-old) is very valuable for getting from a street-view of astrology to a cosmic view of the potential our inner solar system contains.

Important Note: This consideration goes beyond how much of each element you have planets in. Don't forget, we All have All the elements at our disposal. Matter of fact, the view I propose can help us "activate" those elements we may think we don't have...

Earth is where we all live, the place of daily chores, relationships with other humans, and, eventually, our body's grave. If we fashion an interpretive process that sticks to the Earth, we only have at our disposal a view that's limited to concrete processes; and, our range of tools is reduced to our own physical experience or the "indications" of chart factors borrowed from other's physical experience...

When we shift to the Water perspective, we don't lose our Earth bearings because Water encompasses and enfolds Earth. What we do, though, is to widen our range of tools in our astrological kit. We have now the powerful tools of empathy, sympathy, compassion and concern. Our astrological bedside-manner becomes more valuable because we're relating to the other person (or, even ourselves) with a gut-level understanding. The trials and temptations of a merely physical life are tempered at the fountain of fellow-feeling...

It takes more willed work but transition to the Air perspective has valuable rewards, for ourselves and those we may counsel. Now, we have a point-of-view that encompasses and enfolds both Water and Earth yet can operate above their enticing attractions and give us a far-seeing approach that can warn more effectively of approaching danger or steer more efficiently across the canvas that Earth and Water have given birth to...

Finally, for we earth-dwellers, is the realm of Fire. Few can maintain their position within this framework for long, mostly because they have no tools to help them maintain their interpretive focus at this intuitive and dramatically dynamic level of astrological awareness. The Fire perspective enfolds and inspires creative responses at the levels of Air, Water, and Earth...

I claim that the system I present the basics of in my book, in the section at the back called The Instructions, and which I'll be using to consider the charts of famous people {and regular folk like you and me when you begin to contribute to the comments section about your experience with it}, this system can and does operate at the Fire level. It stays above the possible confusions of the Air level, above the possible swampings of the Water level, above the possible petrifications of the Earth level, while still offering aid and assistance for all those realms.

Download the book, try the system on yourself or a few friends (be sure they get to pick their own options!), and seriously consider sharing your experience in the comments. The more we Share, the more we Grow.

Next time, Elvis' chart...

Galactic Visitors

We've arrived at the last chapter of my Free-To-Download book, Astrological Repair Manual. But the adventure of revising and expanding the single book into a ten book series has barely begun...

This blog will now take on a life more infused with speculation, yet firmly grounded in the major Truths of astrology I've shared so far.

Let's get way out There where the power of astrology was born:

"The last chapter may have been a bit weird for some people: planets not forever circling in stable orbits, catastrophes that ravaged our ancestors, plasma that powers the stars...

"Let’s take that last fact. If plasma does make the Sun glow so ferociously, where does it come from? Well, it’s pretty much all over the place when you look at things from a universal perspective; ninety-nine percent of all the stuff there is. So, it comes from the space that surrounds the solar system. All those atomically-small charged protons and electrons that make up the plasma that’s streaming into the system and lighting the Sun are the most obvious and most continuous Galactic Visitors there are.

"But astrologically, just like the case of the hordes of small bodies we considered earlier, in this perpetual stream of particles, it’s not the particles that concern us; it’s not the particles that can be used to give meaning in astrology; it’s the Stream itself—the patterns and convolutions and dance of the plasma stream have meaning.

"Naturally, since humans have only been considering this plasma in any serious way since the space age dawned, there isn’t a heck of a lot of considered opinion about what this Galactic Visitor means. Except, maybe, this:

"The universe is literally teeming with a tenuous and yet powerful substance that can create stars and galaxies—a substance that has the characteristics of a Cosmic Mother.

"In early Egyptian mythology there were the archetypes of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis: Atum, the first god, and his descendants: Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nuit, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. Nuit was the sky goddess, in contrast to most other mythologies, which usually had a sky father. So, just maybe, we can consider Nuit, as Cosmic Mother, contributing the essence of her body to our Sun. This causes the Sun to burn with Purpose. The Sun gives birth to the planets and (with the help of the plasma streams the Sun itself creates) our home Star brings about a dance that we, creatures of this system, have lodged in our unconscious minds. This internal Plasma Dance resonates with the one in space and, we, if we let ourselves, see the synchronicity and wonder of it all, can draw maps of these cycles, attribute psychological meanings to the interactions of the cycles, bring meaning into our lives...

"There isn’t much more to say...

"And also, I could go on forever attempting to describe the insights I’ve gained in the past four decades of courting my sweet lover, Astrology. Back when I first met her, I really wasn’t capable of appreciating her beauty and strength. I misunderstood her motives, misinterpreted her signs, attributed things to her that were all my fault. But she hung in there; she loved me enough to not leave while I went through many convolutions of perception and understanding.

"She remained, always, so attractive that I could never abandon her to the people who would try to pimp her secrets on the newsstand.

"But she was much more mysterious than they could imagine.

"She let them do whatever they wanted, completely unconcerned about her 'reputation'...

"How could the Spirit of the deepest unconscious archetypes worry what a few mortals said about her?

"How could the daughter of the Sky Goddess trouble herself over people that not only didn’t understand her but actively tried to pretend she was something else...

Plasma Love

image credit
Well, we've finally gotten to the Sun in the journey from my Free-To-Download book, Astrological Repair Manual.

After the next post (the last chapter in the book), I'll be free-forming it in this blog—going where most astrologer's fear to go—exploring a new form of astrology that puts You in the driver's seat. I'm hoping for many more comments and feedback. This blog is about you telling me what you think so I can incorporate those perspectives in the expansion of the existing single volume into 10 modular volumes that can make anyone their own astrologer...

I'll let the book speak now:

"The Sun. Our Star.

"Source of Light and Life.

"Mystery to this day!

"Scientists are having a horrible time making sense of how the Sun works. Astrologers miss many of the most important aspects of the cycle of this Function.

"Many people feel that this function is the only part of astrology. (Except, of course, for those twelve Signs of the Zodiac that are popularly given costumes and asked to play parts they’ve never read the script for...)

"You might think that, this being the next to the last chapter of the book, I’d want to calmly summarize and draw all the other chapters’ information to some grand conclusion. The thing is, I don’t intend to actually 'conclude' this book. I want you to enter The Instructions (in the Free-To-Download book) with Wings! I want you to soar through the Realms of Astrological Meaning!! I want you to Really Live!!!

“'Calm down, Alex. These people may not realize what treasure lies at their feet. They may still think this astrology-thingie is a fancy parlor game that makes for witty conversation. They may not understand it when you throw out concepts that aren’t accepted by most reasonable people.'

"Hmmm...

"Well...

"All I can say is that this very close Star, this fantastically beautiful beacon of Purpose has me all fired up! So...

"Start to get used to the idea that our solar system is not what you may have heard it was in high school. The planets may not have always been where they are right now...

"The Sun and its orbiting progeny may not be floating in some lonely backwater of the galaxy, like many astronomers would like you to believe...

"The Sun has been said to hold the planets in orbit with its gravity. This is not capable of being true, which is born out by the latest interdisciplinary scientific studies...

"There are many aspects of the planets, individually and collectively, that want to tell a very different story.

"For instance, the ancients talked about a 'sun' but its characteristics don’t match the one that gives us a tan. They do match the planet Saturn. Also, Venus was thought to have been much closer to Earth in the past and so was Mars. As a matter of fact, there was a time when people saw Venus in front of Saturn, Mars in front of Venus, Jupiter hidden behind Saturn and the whole party steadily revolving at our north pole. There was also a time when this configuration broke up, and there were shudderingly graphic 'wars of the gods' in the heavens which rained debris, electromagnetic bolts, and terror on our ancestors.

“'Oh, my! Poor Alex has gone off the deep end and doesn’t even have a
spaceship’s lifeboat to crawl into. He’s Sun-drunk and his little brain is melted.'

"Hmmm...

"I’m putting some information in the references at the end of this book that will help you find sources that confirm everything I just said. At this point, I’m going to say that this magnificent Star, our Sun, is the Center of our solar system, and it’s also the Center, the Focus of any interpretation you dare make with astrology.

"Focusing, Centering, Life-Giving, Light-Bringing, Purpose-Revealing Sun.

"One extremely important fact of astronomy that every person using it should know is that ninety-nine percent of the universe is plasma. You surely remember your solids, liquids, and gases, right? Plasma is the next state of matter, the most rarified form of substance, yet capable of organizing, moving, and creating new organizations of the other three forms of matter.

"Our Sun is floating in a Sea of Plasma, electrified Plasma, powerful Plasma...

"If you’ve seen neon signs or arc-welders, you’ve seen small versions of the process that lights our Sun and every other of the billions upon billions of stars. The regularity of the orbits of our planetary system (as well as the previous orderings and the transitioning chaotic states) are maintained by the streams of plasma and the power contained in this almost 'spiritual' form of matter. Even the weather on our Earth (as well as the weather on the other planets) is influenced and driven by the power of this all-pervasive Plasma.

"It's much more the case that the planets are ordered by a form of Cosmic Love—a force that transcends mere gravity and material forces—a power and vitality that centers all our concerns...

"If 'Love' holds it all together, it certainly must be a Plasma Love...

"And, if love is the power that binds it all together, we could say that:

Pluto is the Regeneration of Love.

Neptune is the Vision of Love.

Uranus is the Transformative Power of Love.

Saturn is the Clarity of Love.

Jupiter is the Expansiveness of Love.

Mars is the Externalizing of Love.

Venus is the Valuing of Love.

Mercury is the Perceptiveness of Love.

And, our ol’ familiar Moon is the Style of Love’s expression.

The Sun is the Center of it All...

"To make sure this chapter goes out with a sense of the ineffable—the truth that defies rigid expression—here’s a poem by Emily Dickinson:

Love reckons by itself — alone —
"As large as I" — relate the Sun
To One who never felt it blaze —
Itself is all the like it has —

What's Your Point-of-View ?

Last post we checked out the Moon as the fastest and most intimate Function in astrology. Now, we'll look at the Earth's cycle in the second half of Chapter 10 from my Free-to-Download book, Astrological Repair Manual:

"If I said the Moon cycle shows the Style of living, then the Earth shows the actual Central Focus of a life. The Earth is going around the Sun, right? In astrology, the Sun is referred to as the Central Focus of life. It's easy to see why, since without it, we’d be dead! So why am I confusing things and calling Earth the Central Focus? It’s because the Sun’s cycle is the reflection of a moving Earth, and astrology is all about our point-ofview from the Earth. I needed to remind you that the Earth is moving ‘cause it’s so easy to forget...

"So, we’ll pair the Earth-Sun year-long cycle of Central Life Purpose with the month-long Moon cycle of Style of Living that Purpose, and we’ll have the most important Couple of all the astrological Relationships. So important that, with just Sun- Sign and Moon-sign and an understanding of how to blend their meanings into one 'chord', you can impress and astound anyone by explaining the Core of their psychology.

"Certainly, there are other important considerations, like two or three of the other planets close to each other or the Sun or Moon very near another planet, but Everything else in a chart depends on this 'battery' of Sun/Moon. Nothing else would happen without it.

"While we’re here where astrology actually lives, it’s time to get into a little more detail about what the Signs and Houses of astrology mean. We’ll start with the Houses, since these are the Space within which everything else happens.

"There you are, a newly born babe, taking your first breath (the most accurate moment to use in a birth chart). The space that surrounds you has Meaning. Your unconscious mind is already working overtime, though the conscious ego will take years to catch up, if it ever really does... The unconscious is noting the directions and the various cyclic energies that are ranged around you. Powerful connections are being made between your deep psychological state and the actual space that surrounds you. The imprint of this moment of birth is so profound that an astrologer can look at a chart’s meanings and sometimes actually deduce some of the physical happenings at that moment. Certainly, the moment is powerful enough that it becomes, in the full detail of a complete birth chart, the 'blueprint' for the rest of your life.

"To the East, where the path of the planets rises, is what has been called the 'Ascendant' or the beginning of the First House. At the highest point of the planets' path is the 'Midheaven' or the beginning of the 10th house. These two positions define the circle of the Houses. There are actually twelve of them, and their meanings will be given in detail in The Instructions. For now, let’s look at these two defining positions' meanings.

"The Ascendant is the position of your most individualized perspective on life— your 'mask', in the old meaning of that word—what the medicine man wore to let a part of his unconscious come out, certainly not something put on to hide behind. If you don’t know your time of birth accurately and you can’t find it in the records, you need to locate a well-seasoned and rigorously honest astrologer to do what’s called 'rectification'. This is a complex method of working 'backwards' to deduce a time of birth. Much can be told from a chart that’s approximately correct, but it will be significantly general information, true for many people born at or around the time of your birth.

"The Sign that was rising on the Ascendant when you were born is the energy you characteristically use to individually perceive the world. Any planets that are near the Ascendant will blend their functions with your perceptions and become some of your very best 'tools' in life.

"The Midheaven is the position of your characteristic way of Growing into the world. It shows the way you can best be 'objective' about life and, with its accompanying Sign is often used to guide people toward a profession. (Again, I must stress that the chart doesn’t 'say' which specific profession. What’s indicated is the meaning that the profession has in your life. Rather than saying 'doctor' or 'nurse' or 'counselor', for instance, you might see the meaning of 'helping others', although this is a very simplistic way of telling you what a good astrologer could say about your Midheaven and its relationship to other factors in your chart.)

"All the other Houses in your chart derive their meanings from these two—your individualized way of perceiving life and your unique way of growing into it. The Houses can be thought of as the Activities of your life while the Signs are the Energies you use in those Activities and the Planets are the Functions that channel those Energies in those Activities. Another way to say this is that the Function 'uses' the Energy to 'perform' the Activity. You’ll get a lot of practice with this basic astrological formula in The Instructions (in the Free-to Download book) when you begin interpreting your own chart!

"So, the Houses are determined by where and when you were born and define your Space of Activity. The Signs are determined by the motion of the Earth around the Sun and define the Energies that are used in that space.

"There is a moment in the Earth’s journey around the Sun that we call Spring— when day and night are equal and day is beginning to be longer than night. This moment and the place the Sun is in at that time is what we call the beginning of the Sign Aries. In a very important way, saying what Spring means is saying what Aries means. There is another time in the Earth’s journey around the Sun that happens when night is longest and day is shortest and day is just beginning to increase again. This time and the place the Sun is in then is called Capricorn and (without using any of the negative meanings) saying Capricorn is the same as saying Winter. These two Signs and times determine all the other Sign’s meanings, similarly to the Ascendant and Midheaven giving meaning to all the other Houses. I’ll direct your attention to the web site link in The Instructions that goes to Khaldea where you’ll find more than enough information to go as deeply as you desire into the lush fields of Sign and House meanings...

"Earlier in this book I said something to the effect that nothing in astrology has meaning without everything else—kind of like your head means nothing without your neck... Even things like the Ascendant or the first House, which give meaning to other factors, don’t have meaning by themselves. It’s our position on the Earth and it’s relationship to the rest of the solar system that give meaning to Ascendant and first House.

"When we get to the last chapter, you’ll get a feeling for how even this solar system gets its meaning from the rest of space...

"Most of my time on this Earth has been spent learning to find the core meanings of the various factors of astrology. The journey has been wild with discovery and, at times, perilous with risk. I mentioned two languages earlier—the one that astrology has crystallized into traditional words and meanings—and the one that holds the truth. Even though you’ll be able to interpret your own chart (in a basic way) by the time you finish reading this book, you won’t have reached the end of that interpretation until you die. The reason I've stuck with astrology for so many years is that its deepest meanings are the 'seeds' that give meaning to everything else. The structure of astrology is, at root, the structure of our psyche.

"Bold statement, that! Hard-won truth, too. Back behind all the lunacies of popular astrology, far deeper than anything I can say about the subject, is the ocean of our unconscious mind. Our mind, because, at that level, it is a collective mind—heir to the full history of humanity and parent to any individual ego consciousness. There is a man, someone I’ve called the Einstein of psychology—Carl Jung. If you want to delve into this magnificent arena of the origin of consciousness, read Jung...

"And what about our feelings? Ah! We must travel to Venus to begin to unravel the mysteries of feeling..."

We'll also be exploring Venus in the Houses in the next post...

Asteroids and Chaos

We've left Jupiter and are entering the asteroid belt. Our journey mirrors the one in my free-to-download book, Astrological Repair Manual.

Let's look at Chapter 8:

"Here we are traveling through what’s been called the Asteroid Belt—many thousands of carbony or rocky planetoids, chunks of stuff that some think are left over from a destroyed early planet and others think haven't been together long enough to make a planet; jury’s still out...

"The thing is, that since they first called it a belt, astronomers have found bodies orbiting in something more like a sphere with the majority of them huddling in the somewhat flat plane of the major planets. Also, this conglomeration of bodies between Jupiter and Mars used to be the big thing in small bodies. Now we know there are large groups between Saturn and Neptune, not to mention all those Hordes out past Pluto (check out the first few posts of this blog for Xena and her Hordes).

"The critical thing for an astrologer to consider is what can be done, with such a wide variety of objects orbiting in such a wide variety of places, when the astrologer comes to the point of trying to draw any logical, interpretive conclusions. Sad to say, there are many astrologers who don’t stop to consider many things before they blithely offer up their opinions. Result? Chaos; in the astrologer’s mind and in any soul unwitting enough to bite this particular apple.

"One outstanding example of this unconsidered (though, probably, sincere) approach to interpreting this realm of chaotic bodies is the object dubbed Chiron. Discovered in 1977 and having an orbit that takes it between Uranus and Saturn, this small celestial traveler has been given way too much responsibility in the traditional astrologer’s bag of tricks...

"The first major consideration before attempting astrological interpretation of this kind of object is, 'What about all the other ones?' Sure, some astrologers interpret a few of the asteroids in their practice, but the critical difference between planets and this host of other bodies is that they are a host, a multitude, a legion. Back when we were hovering near Xena, I said one approach for hordes-interpretation was to, '...think of a sheath or aura around the chart, a non-localized group of potentials and energies that each individual can tap into IF they can manage to begin using the other planetary functions consciously.'

"That was said for the bodies out beyond Pluto, but it can certainly be applied to the asteroid belt and this plethora of small bodies. Another consideration is the length of their cycles. This depends on physics, but with this legion spread over most of the extent of the solar system, we witness cycles from less than a year to many hundreds of years...

"One approach would be to use 'the sheath or aura...of potentials and energies' and give it special attention when we find a concentration of these denizens of chaos. Since the Hordes of Xena have very long cycles, they would represent a congregation of energies that society-at-large can use; the flock between Jupiter and Mars would be oriented toward the transition between Social Expansion (Jupiter) and Personal Motivation (Mars-teasermeaning).

"I should make it clear that since astrology deals with the mirroring of solar system cycles in the lives of people (and cultures or individuals), everyone is always 'using' these energies and functions. The goal is to make this cyclic-meaning more conscious. And, to be as progressive as possible, astrology is not the only way to do this; just the one I’m writing about...

"So, in other words, these hordes and legions are a cloud of cycles and meanings that don’t have the clarity or precision of interpretation that planets do. They do, however, let us consider the value of chaos in our lives.

"Chaos is a word, like many others, that now seems to live far from its birthplace. Not to say that words shouldn’t grow and move from place to place, but, like you and me, if they change their identity too many times, we should give them a new name or folks might get confused. Actually, most words like this don’t change their meanings; people just don’t know them well enough. Like 'chaos'.

"It came from the Greeks and originally meant something like the primal emptiness or to gape or be wide open. One thing it didn’t mean back then was disorder or confusion—meanings common today. Some of you may be thinking, 'So the word changed its' meaning. Forget about the old ways of using it.' Well, the fact is, that’s real hard to do, and the reason is lurking right there in all our minds—the unconscious. It remembers, very well, and, when we use words in ways they weren’t born for, we induce chaos in our thoughts. Oops! Did I mean disorder or confusion? Did I mean emptying our minds or making them wider? (Actually, I tried hard in that sentence to leave room for all the meanings of chaos...)

"Let’s leave this discussion behind with the understanding that words can be tricky, we should be wary, and chaos just might be a good thing—in its proper place, of course!

"I feel this is the proper place for an understanding of the potential for using all these otherwise misunderstood space objects as a symbol of the vast and multilevel energies available to us; some deep in the unconscious, some much closer to our waking understanding. It’s my firm conviction, though, that none of us will use them consciously unless we're using the main functions—the planets we all know and love—in consciously controlled ways.

"Let me share a quote from Dane Rudhyar that speaks to this positive understanding of chaos:

'Whereas our ancestors used to dwell in a comfortably static universe in which everything had a well defined and rationally reassuring name, a form and a permanent set of characteristics, today we find change enthroned everywhere.... Against the classical concepts of permanence and identity the realization that all living is a dynamic process of transformation from which no entity escapes now stands backed up by the whole edifice of scientific research and theory. On the ruins of the world of thought dogmatically extolled by nineteenth century minds we witness the reappearance of ancient concepts which were for millennia the foundations of human knowledge. The universe is once more to be understood as an ocean of energies in which two vast complementary tides can be distinguished. Everywhere a dynamic and electrical dualism appears as the foundation upon which all reality stands.'
--- The Pulse of Life (1943)

"Humanity is far from a complete understanding of life, the solar system, or the universe. There will always be more to learn and new ways to use what we already know. As we approach the inner edge of this asteroid belt, let’s just agree that there is more to know, and we can profit from letting our minds open a little bit wider at times. If we can reach a place where our minds feel somewhat empty, we will feel less driven, less oppressed. Our minds might even become broad enough to let new interpretations in, interpretations that include enough reality to have the power to take us closer to the truth."

All comments, critiques, and questions welcomed!

Melting with Neptune

Still slowly entering the solar system from interstellar journeys—just like the reader in my astrology book (Astrological Repair Manual), which is a free download.

We've visited the outer realms with Xena and the Hordes, stopped to let Pluto influence us, and are nearing Neptune's playground...

Neptune is not just illusion or delusion. These are just misuses of Neptune's cyclic power.

From the book:

"One of the more misunderstood aspects of Neptune’s meanings is the process of dissolving associated with its symbolic action—the dissolution or evaporation of the solid ground of past beliefs or dreams. It’s important to always remember that astrology deals with cycles and with cycles-within-cycles. A planet’s functional and symbolic meaning happens by giving birth to energies and forces appropriate to its cycle, building them to a full state, then letting them decay and die into a rebirth.

"And, within any given cycle there are sub-cycles of birth, growth, decay and rebirth. Neptune’s ability to dissolve the old (and this will be, hopefully, the last time I remind you that it’s not the actual physical planet doing these things but the psychological powers within us), this power of dissolution, prepares the way for Pluto’s regenerations. We’ll see this with each planet we come to—its function is necessary for the one further out (or, deeper within...). We can also look at the interrelationship of these life functions the other way around, the way we’re doing it in this book, from the deepest/farthest to the most conscious/nearest. This way, we see Pluto’s deaths and purgings as necessary for the dissolving actions of Neptune’s dreams and visions to take place.

"When we get to Uranus, we’ll have a triple of functions that most people on this Earth never bring to conscious awareness."

I really do want to learn from you! Please leave your thoughts and feelings in the comments...

Xena and the Hordes

Many astrologers have been far too ready to accept whatever scientists say. The recent demotion of Pluto from it's planet status is a good example. Some astrologers worry that they now have to not use Pluto in their readings.

In the first place, there are plenty of astronomers who still think Pluto is a planet; and, in the second place, astrologers are not astronomers, in most cases...

The first chapter in my book, Astrological Repair Manual (which is a free download and which this blog was created for—to get a larger amount of feedback on the book's ideas as I revise and expand it), takes a look at the solar system body called Xena. The astronomers first gave her the designation, 2003 UB313, and she's now called Eris, but the discoverers called her Xena and I'm going to keep calling her that.

Xena travels around the Sun in a 560-year cycle on the outer edge of the Kuiper Belt, a region of space well beyond Pluto that's considered to hold thousands of, dare I say, planets. In the first chapter, I say, (to the reader who I've put in a spacecraft coming back from the depths of space), "You’ve seen some of the Horde—the thousands of other 'planets' that orbit the Sun, so far out that the Sun itself is just another bright star." And further, "With the discovery of Xena (and her moon, Gabrielle), humanity is repeating, on a vaster scale, what it went through around 1781, 1846, and 1930 (the times when Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were discovered). Each of those discoveries signaled a coming-to-conscious-potential of aspects of the unconscious that humanity had 'earned' the right to use more objectively. Of course, earning the right to use and using are two different things. Xena and her Hordes present the symbol of a HUGE potential for the human race—an entering into the powers of the unconscious like no time in the past—a chance to use energies (multiple and deep ) that have been, so far, little understood." I also say, "Basically, since we know so little about any of the planets beyond Pluto, about all we can hope to do with them in astrology is think of a sheath or aura around us, a non-localized group of potentials and energies that each individual can tap into IF they can manage to begin using the other planetary functions consciously."

Whew! What a mouth-full, or mind-full...

The point of this post is to hint at the concept of groups of bodies (like the ol' asteroid belt) that astrologers have yet to deal with properly...

To take a handful out of thousands of solar system bodies that share similar cycles and try to attribute specific, individual meanings to that mere handful is totally unfair, to the structure of the solar system's cycles and to the minds of the astrologer and their clients.

What are Your thoughts and feelings?